Frost-proof box.



E. P. STARY.

FROST PROOF'BOX.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 14, 1913.

1,151,132. PatentedAug. 24,1915.

N; w Witnesses B Attorneys COLUMBIA PLANDGRAPH COL,W^SHIN0T0N. D. c.

EMIL P. STARY, OF CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA.

FROST-PROOF `lOrX.

T0 all/whom t may. concern Be it known that l, EMIL P. STARY, a citizenof the United States, residing at Cedar Rapids, in the county of Linnand State of iowa, have invented a new and useful F rost- Proof Box, ofwhich the following 1s a specification. y

This invention relates to a box or housing particularly designed to holda water meter or the like, one ofl its objects being to provide meanswhereby air will be caused to cir-v culate within the box from a pointbelow t ie frost line upwardly to the top of the box, thus `to keep themeter' at a higher temperature than that of the surrounding frozenground so that freezing of the meter in cold climates is prevented.

Another object is to provide improved means for maintaining the meter ata tem-l perature above freezing without requiring the use of ananti-freezing mixture, packing or air forcing means. f

With the foregoing and otherobjects in view which will appear as thevdescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in thedetails ofconstruction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within thescope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred forms of the invention havebeen shown.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section through one form of boxembodying the present improvements. Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof withthe lid removed. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 and showing amodified form of box. Fig. l is a plan view thereof with the lidremoved. Fig. 5 is another central vertical section showing a furthermodification. Fig. 6 is a plan view thereof with the lid removed. Y

Referring to the gures by characters of reference 1 designates a box ofany desired material of such length as to extend below the frost line.This box is provided with any suitable cover 2 adapted to be flush withthe surface of the ground.

The principal feature of the present in; vention resides in theprovision of means whereby a circulation of air may be set upautomatically so that the warm air at the lower end of the box can becaused to rise Specification of Letters Patent.

within the box and Vthus keepy warm the meter M supported inthe upperportion of the box and connected to the water pipes l). Thiscirculationis induced by the increased weight of the column or columnsof air due to the presence at the top of theV column or columns of alayer ofV relatively cold air.

. This cold air is produced by the exposure of the box'to the meter Mconsists of a ,by-pass 3 arranged outside of but integral with the' box1, this by-pass having an air inlet 4 at its upper end and an air outlet5 at its lower end. lt will be apparentthat by utilizing a box such asshown in Figs. 1 and 2, the warm air contained withinthe bottom of thebox and below the frost line will ascend within the box along the wallsthereof while the cold air of greater density will descend vat thecenter of the box as indicated by arrows, kthus raising the temperatureof the meter M and its contents. Qbviously a circulation may beestablished in other ways as, for example, by arranging in the box 6,shown in Fig. 8, an inner casing 7 mounted on supports 8 so as thus tobe held elevated above the bottom of the box 6. rlhe warm air willascend from the lower portion of the box through the by-pass 9 betweenthe inner casing 7 and the box 6 and will displace the cold air in thetop of the casing 7 and which will descend as indicated by arrows.

Instead of utilizing an inner concentricy casing 7 as shown in Fig. 3,an interior bypass 10 can be arranged within'one or more corner portionsor along one or more sides of the casing 11 as shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

` Where an inner by-pass 10 is employed, it is preferred to extend adeflector 12 under the lower end of the by-pass so that all ofthe warmair will not ascend through the bypass. rlhe circulation of air has beenclearly indicated by arrows. Obviously in alll of the structuresdescribed the boxes are to be of such length as to extend desireddistances below the frost line, it being possible thus to keep the meternear the top of the box where it is kept at a raised temperature byratentea aug. sa, isis.

Application led July klll, 1913. Serial No. 778,978.

the cold air descending from the top of the boxand which displaces thewarm air which is located in the bottom portion of the box. In everyinstance, furthermore, the boxfis wallr and rise in the by-pass.

wise true of the structures shownin F1gs;.3

closed at its top by a'lid so as to prevent the escape of the lascendingwarm By utilizing a by-pass as in F ig. l, although the column of air'atthe. left wall is protectedY by the earth, the bypass 5 is still moreprotected and thefcontained` air isV still warmer so that the airrwlldescend along the left and 5;`

*llt wllbe apparent that by providing a structure such as hereindescribed, itis unnecessary to utilize any packing, non-freezingcompound, or the like, for the purpose ofl preventing freezing in themeter, land furthermore, it is unnecessary to extend the water pipesthrough any heating medium or to provide any mechanical means forcreating a circulationof a heating medium outside of the meter.

What is claimed is1- l. The combination with a box adapted to beembeddedin the ground and to extend below the frost line, of means for directingupwardly to the top of the box from the bottom thereof warm kairdisplaced by a descending column of cold air. .v

'2. Adevice of the class described including a boxpadapted toV beembedded in the ground kand to extend below the frost line,

Copies of thisv patent may be obtained Afor This is like-fA box, saidpassages constituting means for effecting the upward displacement of.warm air by the descent of cold air` of greater density, thereby toraiseV the. temperature in the upper portion of the box. i

et. The combination withfa boxadapted to be embedded in the ground aboveand below the frost line, and a closure for the upper end ofthe box,ofmeans supported within the box and'spaced from the topl and bottom ithereof and -from thewallof the box, where by al central passage isproduced within the box,` said central passage being surrounded by. anannular passage for the ascent.l of

warm air-displaced bycold air descending.. lwithin the central passage.

`ln testimony that claim the foregoing as my own, I have heretoafixed mysignature in the presence of witnesses.` y

l EMIL P. STARY. Witnesses: Y

J. W.-.LEsINGER, FRANKG. STARY, O'r'ro J. JIRsA.

ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner vo1' latents,l Washington,D. C.l l'

